InBev Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Nov 2008 (took 6 weeks)

5 Stage Process:
1) Written application
2) Group Interview #1 - Done with your business school or the nearest business school; 10 people; 2 Mosaic reps, 1 InBev rep; Talk briefly about yourself (biggest achievement, why InBev), then a business case analysis of a problem in a brewing company. Done in two groups. Had about 20 minutes to analyse the case, another 10 to present. Be sure to talk about rationale, makes sure to give everyone a chance to speak, don't undercut one another.
3) Individual Interview - This is your only one on one time with the company, so make sure you shine. Was with one Mosaic rep and one InBev rep at the business school. They ask the standard questions (Why InBev, previous challenges). Try to showcase a sales or entrepreneurial personality.
4) Group Interview #2 - Nationwide collection of interviewees at the regional HQ, about 12 candidates per session. 2 hours. About 10 InBev employees, another 2 Mosaic employees. You complete a business simulation in groups of 4 trying to increase EBIT (and not anything else). You choose a country based on stats, defend your selection, and then make round-by-round decisions about production, employees, promotions. Just remember you are trying to increase EBIT, so understand what goes into that calcuation. Rounds are about 10 minutes, and get faster as you go on. At the end your group must make a presentation on why you made the decisions you did --this is critical. Make sure everyone has time to speak. Agree on points beforehand. Think hard about how they could knock you and make sure that you're not blaming people. They will try to pit members of your group against one another. They will ask you who was the leader and who you would fire in your group, with no explanation as to why. Just answer honestly. The most important thing is to keep talking and participating, and speak up when you have an opinion.
5) Group Interview #3 - Final Panel, five InBev reps, five candidates. Intense interview, InBev reps are high-level VPs and managers. They will ask you almost anything -pitch a commercial, solve a production problem, simulate firing one of the other candidates. Don't go too fast and think things through. They'll ask your opinion on who you want to work with and who you wouldn't. Make sure you shine here, you'll be with some stiff competition and you need your A game.

Overall, the process was very intensive and the overall tone of the interviews was negative. The more I interviewed, the less I wanted the job because of what was being revealed to me about the company culture (cutthroat, intense, highly internally competitive, long work hours, a willingness to sacrifice anything for work). This job is for a certain type of person, but definitely not everyone.